7 Ways Leaders Can Achieve Big Wins

1. Develop backwards timelines.
People focus on weekly or daily to-do lists, but they
don't always look at the bigger picture. Help staff see
through this lens and ask them what they want their
yearly contribution to be and how will they achieve that?
Whether it's helping cut costs, growing annual revenues
by a certain percent or building national brand
awareness, encourage them to think about the future.
Then create a backwards timeline of how to get there
month by month, week by week, and day by day.
2. Invest in the term 'accountability.'
Staff should hold themselves accountable and be
accountable to their colleagues. Being accountable
means taking ownership on a project or assignment, and
taking full responsibility for any shortcomings. It
encourages a more aggressive attitude towards
completing a goal, because there's more purpose and
passion when a promise is made to a team.
3. Practice 'corporate grandparenting.'
This is a management and retention strategy of creating
relationships with employees two levels below where
someone sits in the corporate hierarchy, allowing for an
open dialogue beyond direct reports. While mentorship
programs operate to advance an employee's hard
skillset, discussions that take part through corporate
grandparenting are more about bigger picture things like
corporate values and how the employee can contribute
to the end goal.
Related: 8 Qualities of Leaders Who Deliver Value Every
Day
4. Refill an empty organizational chart.
Business leaders need to look at a blank company
organizational chart on a quarterly basis, then refill it.
This doesn't always mean exiting someone from the
organization but making adjustments. Consider moving
employees with strong work ethics who aren't producing
to a different group. If the employee is currently a
revenue producer, would it make sense to put them in
non-revenue producing role? Would their energy be
suitable in a different group that lacks morale? The
slightest change can make the biggest difference. Also,
during this reorg, think about new business opportunities.
If the company were to get a flood of new business,
which unit would be overwhelmed? Which team would be
understaffed or lack the skills to do the job? Then, fix
the problem before it happens.
5. Conduct stay interviews.
Stay interviews are interviews conducted between a
high-potential employee and their manager with the sole
intent to retain employees and keep them happy and
motivated. It's a performance review on the company to
understand what top performers are most excited about
or motivated by and what might tempt them to leave.
Stay interviews help companies avoid turnover by
pinpointing employee pain points before they are out the
door.
6. Create a mentorship program.
A leading reason people quit companies is because they
don't feel invested in. A mentorship program allows for
one-on-one developmental training from tenured staff,
which helps increase employee retention. It also gets
new hires assimilated to their roles and to the company
culture faster.
7. Commit to inspire.
Inspiration has to come from the top. The leader has to
take full responsibility and accountability for how his/her
staff is developing and make tough decisions when
needed. Reflect on last year and consider the hard
decisions that were made. How would they be handled
differently if they resurfaced this year?